Zagłębie Wałbrzych
Full nameGKS Zagłębie Wałbrzych
Nickname(s)Thorez
Founded1945
2006 (re-founded)
Ground"Old Zagłębie" Stadium, Dąbrowski Street
ChairmanMarcin Dymecki
ManagerJózef Borcoń
LeagueKlasa A, Wałbrzych I group

Zagłębie Wałbrzych is a Polish multisports club in the south-western city of Wałbrzych. The club, based in the Biały Kamień neighbourhood, is the most famous for its football team, which competed in the Polish top division in the past.

History

The club was founded in 1945. Its founders were Polish emigres returning from France and Belgium, who named the club Thorez, after Maurice Thorez, a French communist leader. The name was disliked by most fans and was changed in 1968 into Zagłębie, which means coal basin in Polish, as Wałbrzych was an important center of mining.

In 1968, Zagłębie Wałbrzych won promotion to the Ekstraklasa, and in the 1970–71 season, it finished in the 3rd spot, after Górnik Zabrze and Legia Warsaw. Zagłębie participated in the games of the UEFA Cup, advancing to the second round. In the first round, it beat Czechoslovakian team FK Teplice (1-0, 3-2), in the second round it lost to Romanian side UT Arad (1-1, 1-2). Team's most famous player is goalkeeper Marian Szeja, participant of the 1972 Olympic Games.

After the 1973–74 season, Zagłębie was relegated from the top division and has never returned. A difficult financial situation of sports clubs in Wałbrzych meant that in the early 1990s the club merged with fierce rivals Górnik Wałbrzych much to the shock of both sets of fans after over 40 years of rivalry. The new merged club then became "KP Wałbrzych", then "KP Górnik/Zagłębie Wałbrzych". Matches were played at Zagłębie's stadium but eventually the Zagłębie part was dropped from the name and the club de facto ceased to exist.[1]

On 6 April 2006 the "Stowarzyszenie GKS Zagłębie Wałbrzych", was created, reactivating the football section of the club. From 2008, the team participates in the regional games of Lower Silesia.

In 2019, a women's football section was founded.[2]

Honours

European record

Season Tournament Round Opponent Home Away Overall
1971 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group stage (group 6) West Germany Eintracht Braunschweig 0–1 0–1 3rd place
Sweden Malmö FF 2–0 0–4
Switzerland Young Boys Bern 0–2 1–0
1971-72 UEFA Cup 1R Czechoslovakia Union Teplice 1–0 3–2 4–2
2R Romania UT Arad 1–1 1–2 (a.e.t.) 2–3 (a.e.t.)

Notable players

Marian Szeja, Joachim Stachuła and Stanisław Paździor have all played in the Poland national football team.

References

  1. ↑ "Feniks odradzający się z popiołów - z Pucharu UEFA wprost do B klasy". 24 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Jakub Zima (22 July 2019). "Zagłębie Wałbrzych otwiera się na kobiety". Sportowy Wałbrzych (in Polish). Retrieved 18 September 2022.
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